November 1989 in Prague is remembered by its foot soldiers as a dizzying succession of demonstrations and hopeful propaganda expeditions into the provinces. No one was sure if the revolution would hold, and today it seems that many of its central values have melted away.

Jonathan Sumption’s characterisation of the United Kingdom’s constitution is typical of many British writers. ‘Britain is an ancient State with a long and unbroken constitutional history.’ That is to say we are unique, and have avoided the upheavals and violence that have troubled other nations.